3d camera using flash with structured light

ABSTRACT

An imaging device capable of capturing depth information or surface profiles of objects is disclosed herein. The imaging device uses an enclosed flashing unit to project a sequence of structured light patterns onto an object and captures the light patterns reflected from the surfaces of the object by using an image sensor that is enclosed in the imaging device. The imaging device is capable of capturing an image of an object such that the captured image is comprised of one or more color components of a two-dimensional image of the object and a depth component that specifies the depth information of the object.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The technical field of this disclosure relates to the art ofthree-dimensional imaging, and more particularly to the art ofthree-dimensional imaging using structured light.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

There exist various techniques and systems for producing stereoscopicimages. One type of approach uses triangulation methods to measuregeometric attributes of an object in a scene for extracting depthinformation of the object. Another type of approach uses variousscanning mechanism for measuring the time of flight so as to obtain thedepth information of the object. Regardless of the method used, a keytechnique in three-dimensional imaging systems or stereoscopic imagingsystems is the surface profile of the object or the depth information ofthe pixels at the surface of the object (hereafter the depthinformation). Once the surface profile or the depth information isobtained, a stereoscopic image of the object can be reconstructed.

Various techniques and devices for capturing surface profiles or depthinformation have been proposed. These techniques can be very costly, andthe devices very large and not convenient for portability. As the drivefor techniques and systems capable of stereoscopic imaging constantlygrows in many industrial fields, the demand for cost-efficient andcompact devices capable of capturing surface profile or depthinformation of objects likewise continually increases.

SUMMARY

In one example, a method is disclosed herein, the method comprising:capturing an image of an object using an image sensor that comprises anarray of sensor pixels, wherein the captured image is comprised of acolor component of a two-dimensional image of the object and a depthcomponent, wherein the depth component specifies for at least one imagepixel of the two-dimensional image a depth information that is thedistance between a point of the object and a sensor pixel that generatessaid at least one image pixel.

In one example, a device is disclosed herein, the method comprising: anenclosure enclosed therein a flashing unit that comprises a spatiallight modulator comprising an array of addressable pixels; and an imagedetection unit that comprises an image sensor comprising an array oflight detection cells; and a shutter for synchronizing the flashing unitand the image detection unit.

In another example, a method for capturing an image of an object isdisclosed herein, the method comprising: projecting a sequence ofstructured light patterns to the object using an array of micromirrors,wherein the consecutive light patterns is distanced apart by an intervalthat is 1 millisecond or less; capturing the light patterns reflectedfrom the object; and extracting the depth information of the object fromthe captured light patterns.

In yet another example, a device is disclosed herein, the devicecomprising: an array of micromirrors, each micromirror comprising: asubstrate; an electrode formed on the substrate; a mirror plate attachedto a deformable hinge; and a mirror post holding the mirror plate andthe deformable hinge above the substrate; and wherein a memory is absentfrom the micromirror.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates an exemplary image capturing devicethat is capable of capturing depth information or surface profiles ofobjects;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary structure of the image capturingdevice in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 diagrammatically illustrates a method of capturing depthinformation of an object in scene using the image capturing device ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates an exemplary pixel array of thespatial light modulator in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary micromirror device thatcan be used in the spatial light modulator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another exemplary micromirror devicethat can be used in the spatial light modulator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an exemplary charge-coupled device that can beused in the image detector in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 8 diagrammatically illustrates the structure of an exemplaryphoto-detection pixel that can be used in the charge-couple device inFIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED EXAMPLES

Disclosed herein is a method of imaging an object such that the capturedimages can be used for producing three-dimensional images orstereoscopic images of the object. The method captures an image of theobject such that the captured image comprises color components of atwo-dimensional image of the object and a depth component that specifiesthe depth of the object. Image pixels having uncertain depth values canbe assigned with a calculated value based upon known depth values ofnearby image pixels. The color components of the two-dimensional imageand the depth component can be used for producing three-dimensionalimages and stereoscopic images of the object. An image capturing devicehaving the method implemented therein is provided. The image capturingdevice can be configured as a 3D camera that encloses a flashing unitand an image detector. The flashing unit is capable of projecting atrain of structured light to an object in a scene; and the imagedetector is capable of detecting the structured light reflected from theobject in the scene. The detected structured light by the image detectorcan be analyzed so as to obtain the depth information of the object,which can be used to reconstruct the stereoscopic image of the object.An advantage of the imaging system is that such a 3D camera can beimplemented in a compact point-and-shoot camera or a single-lens-reflexcamera by replacing the flash with a flashing unit in this disclosure.

The method and the imaging device will be disclosed in the followingwith selected examples. It will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that the following discussion is for demonstration purposes andshould not be interpreted as a limitation. Other variations within thescope of this disclosure are also applicable. In particular, the imagingmethod can be used with the imaging device; and can alternatively beused in other types of imaging devices or systems, and vice versa.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates anexemplary 3D camera of this disclosure. The 3D camera (100) comprisesflash unit 104, image detection unit 102, and shutter 106. The flashingunit is provided for generating structured light patterns with desiredtime characteristics and projecting the generated light patterns ontoobjects in a scene. The image detection unit is provided for capturingthe structured light patterns reflected from the object during asuitable time period and converting the captured light patterns intodesired electrical signals. The shutter (106) is provided for enablingthe user to synchronize the flashing unit and the image detection unit.

In one example, the flashing unit and the image detector aresubstantially fixed within the 3D camera (100) so as to enable thetriangulation-based depth measurements. It is noted that functionalmembers, especially optics of the flashing unit and the image detectorcan be moved relative during the operation. The movements of the opticalelements during operation can be compensated by algorithms that isimplemented in, for example, a calibration or the data analysis modulein the 3D camera.

The 3D camera can be configured to have a characteristic dimension thesame as a typical portable imaging device, such as a standardpoint-and-shoot camera, a single-lens-reflex camera, or a cell phonehaving imaging capability, or a personal-digital-assistant havingimaging capability. In one example, the 3D camera has a maximumdimension (along the length, width, and height) of 50 cm or less, 20 cmor less, 10 cm or less. In another example, the 3D camera has a maximumvolume of 250 cm³ or less, 100 cm³ or less, or even 50 cm³ or less. The3D camera may have other suitable dimensions in other examples.

FIG. 2 diagrammatically illustrates a portion of the structure of the 3Dcamera in FIG. 1. For simplicity purposes, other functional members arenot shown. In the example as illustrated in FIG. 2, the flashing unit(104) of the 3D camera comprises an illumination system 108, spatiallight modulator 110, and projection lens 112.

The illumination system (108) comprises one or more light sources forproviding light. Various light sources can be used, such as,light-emitting-diodes, arc lamps, devices employing free space orwaveguide-confined nonlinear optical conversion and many other lightemitting devices. In particular, light sources with low etendue, such assolid state light emitting devices (e.g. lasers andlight-emitting-diodes (LEDs)) can be used. When solid-state lightemitting devices are used, the light source may comprise an array ofsolid-state light emitting devices capable of emitting different colors,such as colors selected from red, green, blue, and white. LEDs capableof emitting light in non-visible light ranges, such as infrared lightrange, can also be used in some examples. Exemplary laser sources arevertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) and Novalux™ extendedcavity surface emitting lasers (NECSEL), or any other suitable laseremitting devices.

Spatial light modulator 110 comprises an array of addressable pixels,such as deformable micromirrors and liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS)cells. In other alternative examples, the spatial light modulator can bereplaced by other types light valves having addressable pixels, such asself-light emitting devices (e.g. plasma cells andorganic-light-emitting-diodes). In those alternative examples, theillumination system 112 may not be necessary. Projection lens 112collects light from spatial light modulator 114 and projects thecollected light onto the object in scene.

The image detector 102 comprises image sensor 114 and optics 116. Theimage sensor can be a charge-coupled device (CCD) array,complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor array, or othertypes of image sensors. The image sensor (114) is able to capture thelight reflected from the object in scene and convert the capturedoptical signals into electronic signals.

In order to enable the triangulation measurement for depth information,the relative positions of spatial light modulator 110 and image sensor114 in the 3D camera is preferably fixed. The distance D between thespatial light modulator (110) and the image sensor (114) is preferablyas large as possible within the body of the 3D camera so as to increasethe angular resolution of the 3D camera.

An exemplary method of capturing the depth information of a staticobject using the 3D camera is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 3.Referring to FIG. 3, a train of structured light patterns, such aspatterns 118, 120, and 122, are generated by the flashing unit andprojected onto static object 124 through spatial light modulator 110 andprojection lens 112. The object (124) reflects the incident lightpatterns; and the image sensor 114 of the image detector captures thereflected light patterns through optics 116.

Various structured light patterns can be used, such as one-dimensionalstructured light, such as lines, and two-dimensional structured light,such as frames and grids. In the example as diagrammatically illustratedin FIG. 3, a train of light patterns is used with each light patterncarrying a binary code. Specifically, each light pattern comprises a setof “bright stripes” that are generated by the spatial light modulatorpixels at the ON-state (or the OFF state) and “dark stripes” that aregenerated by the spatial light modulator pixels at the OFF-state (or theON state). The bright and dark stripes are along the columns of imagepixels; and can alternatively be along any desired directions, such asrows or diagonals or other directions.

The bright and dark stripes have substantially the same width (along thedirection perpendicular to the length of the stripe) of the same kind;while the stripes of different kinds (bright and dark stripes) may ormay not have the same width even in the same light pattern or with thesame code. For example, a bright stripe in a light pattern may have adifferent width than a dark stripe.

The bright and dark stripes alternate in a light pattern; and thedistribution of the bright and dark stripes in a light patternrepresents a binary code. For example, the bright and dark stripes inthe light pattern (e.g. pattern 118) encoded with theleast-significant-bit (LSB) each have one width unit (or one width unitswhen the bright and the dark stripes have different width units). Awidth unit corresponds to one or more pixel columns of the pixel arrayin the spatial light modulator of the flashing unit in the 3D camera.

The bright stripes of the light pattern (e.g. light pattern 120) encodedwith the second binary bit (e.g. LSB+1) each have two width units of thebright stripes. In other words, each bright stripe in the second binarybit encoded light pattern (120) has a width that is substantially twotimes the width of the bright stripe in the light pattern (119) that isencoded with the LSB. Each dark stripe in the second binary bit encodedlight pattern (120) has two width units of the dark stripes. It is notedthat a bright stripe and a dark stripe in the light pattern may or maynot have the same width.

The bright stripes of the light pattern (e.g. light pattern 122) encodedwith the third binary bit (e.g. LSB+2) each have three width units ofthe bright stripes; and each dark stripe has three width units of thedark stripes, even though the dark stripe and the bright stripe may ormay not have different widths.

The same encoding method is applied to all light patterns that areprojected onto the object (124). It is noted that the binary coded lightpatterns can be projected to the object in any desired orders, such asincrement order, decrement order, random order, or a user-defined order.Other than binary coding, other coding schemes, such as linear codingschemes can also be used.

At the surface of the object (124), the bright and dark stripes of eachlight pattern may be deformed depending upon the surface profile of theobject (124). The deformation in the reflected bright and dark stripescarries depth information of the surface that reflects the bright anddark strips. The reflected light patterns having bright and dark stripsare captured by the image sensor 114 through optics 116 as shown in thefigure.

The train of light patterns can have any suitable numbers of lightpatterns. In one example, a number of N light patterns can be selectedsuch that the image pattern encoded with the most-significant (MSB)binary code of a set of binary codes is comprised substantially of abright stripe (or a dark stripe), wherein the binary codes is expressedas 2^(N-1).

The structured light patterns can be projected to the object in scene inany suitable schemes. For example, the light patterns can besubstantially uniformly separated in time. Because a shorter measurementtime necessary for obtaining the depth information can be critical forensuring accurate depth information of moving objects, it is preferredthat the time interval between consecutive light patterns is 10milliseconds or less, 5 milliseconds or less, 1 milliseconds or less,500 microseconds or less, 200 microseconds or less, or even 100microseconds or less. In fact shorter time periods such as 50microseconds or less, 30 microseconds or less, 10 microseconds or less,5 microseconds or less, or even 1 microsecond or less, could also beused. Accordingly, each light pattern is preferably generated by thespatial light modulator in a time period that is 100 us or less, such as50 microseconds or less, 30 microseconds or less, 10 microseconds orless, 5 microseconds or less, or even 1 microsecond or less.

Because the light patterns are generated by pixels of the spatial lightmodulator or the pixels of the light valve, the switching time (e.g. thetime of pixels switched between the on and off state) predominantlydetermines the time properties of the light patterns. A shortergeneration time of a light pattern and a shorter interval betweenconsecutive light patterns can take advantage of reflective anddeformable micromirrors that often exhibit short switching time.

Various micromirrors can be used to generate the light patterns asdiscussed above, such as DMD device, a product by Texas Instruments,Inc. Other types of micromirror arrays can also be used, such as themicromirror array diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 4. Referring toFIG. 4, micromirror array 110 in this example comprises micromirrors,such as micromirror 126 that are deployed as an array. For demonstrationpurposes, 14×9 micromirrors are shown in the micromirror array. In fact,the micromirror array may comprise any desired numbers of micromirrors,which is referred to as the native resolution of the micromirror array.As an example, the micromirror array may have a resolution of 640×480(VGA) or higher, such as 800×600 (SVGA) or higher, 1024×768 (XGA) orhigher, 1280×1024 (SXGA) or higher, 1280×720 or higher, 1400×1050 orhigher, 1600×1200 (UXGA) or higher, and 1920×1080 or higher, or integermultiples and fractions of these resolutions. Of course, otherresolutions are also applicable.

Various types of micromirrors can be used in the micromirror array(110), one of which is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 5. Referringto FIG. 5, the micromirror 126 in this example comprises substrate 144,addressing electrode 142 that is formed on substrate 144, mirror plate138 that is attached to a deformable hinge (not shown), and mirror post140 that holds the mirror plate and the deformable hinge above thesubstrate such that the mirror plate is capable of moving relative tothe substrate.

The substrate in this example can be comprised of any desired materials,such as glass, amorphous silicon, plastic materials, semiconductormaterials, or many other materials. Electrode 142 is formed on a surfaceof the substrate and is electrically connected to an external sourcesuch that a voltage can be applied between the mirror plate (138) andthe electrode (142). Unlike most existing micromirrors, micromirror 126may not need a semiconductor device such as CMOS transistors or othertypes of memories (e.g. DRAM) to be formed on the substrate (144) orenclosed in the micromirror 126. Selection of the micromirror in themicromirror array and voltage application to the electrode (e.g.electrode 142) of a selected micromirror in the micromirror array can beaccomplished through actuation contacts and electrode contacts that areconnected to the micromirrors, which will be discussed afterwards withreference to FIG. 4.

The micromirror (126) in FIG. 5 has one single electrode (142). Inoperation, the mirror plate can be rotated towards the electrode (142)by a voltage between the mirror plate and the electrode; and stopped atan angle. The state of the mirror plate stopped at the angle can bedefined as the ON state (or the OFF state) of the micromirror. Duringthe rotation of the mirror plate towards the electrode 142, a mechanicalrestoration torque can be established in the deformable hinge to whichthe mirror plate is attached. When the voltage is removed or reducedbelow a threshold such that the torque from the voltage is notsufficient to overcome the mechanical torque in the deformable hinge,the mirror plate rotates back to its nature resting state under themechanical restoration force. The natural resting state or a staticstate of the mirror plate can be defined as the OFF state (or the ONstate).

A beam of light incident to the mirror plate can be reflected by themirror plate towards different directions. The reflected light by themirror plate at the ON state is referred to as the ON-state light; andthe reflected light by the mirror plate at the OFF-state is referred toas the OFF-state light. The ON-state light (or the OFF-state) light canbe directed to the object to form a bright stripe; and the OFF-statelight (or the ON-state light) can be directed away from the object toform a dark stripe.

The latching or hysteresis mechanism of the micromirror 126 as discussedabove with reference to FIG. 5 can be used to set the state of M×Nmicromirror groups in a micromirror array (having M×N micromirrors ormore than M×N micromirrors) using only M actuator contacts and Nelectrode contacts. For example in a 1024×768 micromirror array, M canbe 32 and N can be 32 such that M×N is 1024. Every micromirror group(such as a single column or a row of micromirrors in the array) has aunique actuator connection and electrode connection. For example withreference to FIG. 5, a 1024×768 array of micromirrors (110) can bearranged such that: 1) the micromirrors in every 32^(nd) column areconnected electrically (which part of the actuators, the mirror plate orthe electrode); and 2) the electrodes in every group of 32 columns areconnected electrically. Specifically, the micromirrors in the 32^(nd),64^(th), and 128^(th) columns are electrically connected to actuatorcontacts 136 a, 136 b, and 136 c, respectively. The electrodes of themicromirrors in first three groups of 32 columns are electricallyconnected to electrode contacts 134 a, 134 b, and 134 c, respectively.With this configuration each column can be controlled independently; and64 (32×2) total connections are sufficient to individually stet thestate of micromirrors in each column of the array. It is noted that themicromirror array can be configured many other different groups than 32columns.

Because the selection of the micromirror in a micromirror array andactivation (or switching state) of the micromirror array in the arraycan be accomplished by actuation contacts and electrode contacts, andmemories in each individual micromirror of most current micromirrorarrays can be avoided. As such, the micromirror 126 and a micromirrorarray comprised of the micromirrors 126 can have reducedoriginal-design-manufacture (ODM) cost, original-equipment-manufacture(OEM) cost, and bill-of-material (BOM) cost. An exemplary configurationof the micromirrors in an array is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG.4.

Another exemplary micromirror is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 6.Referring to FIG. 6, micromirror 146 in this example comprises twoelectrodes 150 and 152 on the substrate. The electrodes are positionedat opposite sides of the mirror post that holds the mirror plate abovethe substrate. Driven by voltages applied to the electrodes 150 and 152,the mirror pate 148 rotates to the ON state and OFF state as shown inthe figure. The substrate can be the same as that in micromirror 126 asdiscussed above with reference to FIG. 5.

The reflected light patterns from the object in scene are captured bythe image sensor (114) through optics. One exemplary image sensor isdiagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 7. Referring to FIG. 7, the imagesensor 114 comprises an array of cells, such as cell 154. Various cells,such as charge-coupled devices (CCD) andcomplementary-metal-on-semiconductor (CMOS) diodes can be used in theimage sensor.

A CCD cell typically comprises a photoactive region and a transmissionregion that is comprised of a shift-register. A beam of light incidentto the photoactive region of a CCD cell causes the accumulation ofelectric charge in a capacitor of the CCD cell. The amount of theelectric charge accumulated is proportional to the intensity of thelight incident to the photoactive region. Once an array of CCD cells hasbeen exposed to the incident light, a control circuit causes eachcapacitor to transfer its content to its neighboring capacitor. The lastcapacitor in the CCD cell array dumps its electric charge to a chargeamplifier, which converts the electric charge into a voltage. Byrepeating this process, the controlling circuit converts the electriccontents of the entire CCD cell array into a sequence of voltages. Thesequence of voltages can then be stored.

In order to convert the train of reflected light patterns (e.g. Npatterns) during period T (wherein T can be expressed as T=N×ΔT and ΔTis the time distance between two consecutive light patterns) into asequence of voltage signals, the CCD cells in the CCD array can beoperated in many ways. In one example, N packets of electric contents isobtained and transferred (e.g. to an amplifier) for each CCD cell duringtime T. The transferred voltage signals for substantially all of N lightpatterns can be read out afterwards for analyses.

In another example, 1/N of the total CCD cells in the entire CCD arraycan be latched during time T for capturing N light patterns incidentthereto during time T. The contents of the latched CCD cells can then bereadout afterwards for analyses.

In yet another example, a comparator and a memory can be provided foreach CCD cell in the array, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 8.Referring to FIG. 8, the CCD cell in this example comprises photo-diode158, comparator 160, and memory 162. The photo-diode (158) generates anamount of electric charges proportional to the intensity of the lightincident thereto. The accumulated electric charge is delivered to thenegative input of the comparator (160) that has the positive input beingconnected to a reference voltage signal. The output of the comparator(16) is connected to memory 162 such that the voltage signals from thecomparator (160) can be stored in the memory (162). The content of thememory can then be retrieved for analyses afterwards.

In capturing N light patterns reflected from the object in scene duringtime T, each CCD cell of the CCD array is exposed to the light patterns.The photo-diode of each CCD cell causes accumulation of electric chargeproportional to the intensity of the light incident thereto. Theaccumulated electric charge is transferred to the comparator; and thecomparator converts the received electric charge into digital signalsand stores the converted digital signals into the memory. The content inthe memory thus corresponds to the intensity of the light detected bythe CCD cell; and carries the depth information of one or more points inthe surface of the object. The contents in the memory can be analyzedfor extracting the depth information of the object in scene afterwards,for example using existing depth information analysis algorithms.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the light patterns reflected from the object(124) are captured by the image sensor (114) so as to obtain the depthinformation of the object surface. In one example, the image sensorcaptures both two-dimensional image (e.g. components of a particularcolor space) and the depth information. Depending upon the color spaceused, the components of the two-dimensional image can be various, suchas RGB, CMYK, YIQ, YP_(b)P_(r), YC_(b)C_(r), xvYCC, HSV, HSL, and othercomponents. Each color component can be a two dimensional array of pixeldata with each pixel data corresponding to the intensity of a particularimage pixel for the particular component. The depth information (orcomponent) of a captured image can be a two-dimensional array of pixeldata with each pixel data corresponding to a distance (depth) between asensor pixel of the image sensor and a surface point at the surface ofthe object. Specifically, the depth component can be a J×K data array,wherein J×K is the dimension of the pixel array of the image sensor(e.g. the CCD array). A data value in (j, k) cell in the J×K data arrayof the depth component represents the distance between a surface pointof the object being imaged and the image sensor pixel at location (j, k)in the sensor pixel array. The depth information in a captured image canthus be treated as an independent component of the captured image; andcan be processed as other components. For example, the depth componentcan be compressed, stored, and/or processed as the other colorcomponents of the image.

In some situations, one or more portions of the object's surface beingimaged may not be exposed to the image sensor from a certain observationangle. As a consequence, the image sensor may not be able to capture thelight reflected from such hidden portion(s); and the depth informationof the surface point(s) at such hidden portion(s) may not be obtained.This problem can be solved by, for example, data interpolation with anysuitable interpolation techniques, such as linear interpolation,polynomial interpolation, spline interpolation and other techniques. Inparticular, the depth value of an image pixel corresponding to a hiddensurface portion of the object can be obtained by interpolation based onthe known values of the neighboring or nearby pixels. The interpolationcan be performed before presenting a 3D image using the depthinformation or can be performed dynamically during the displaying of the3D image.

In an exemplary 3D display operation, the image data, such as the colorcomponent of the 2D image and the depth component of each 2D image (orthe depth component of each color component in each 2D image) aredelivered to a display system. By default, as an example, the displaysystem can show the image from the non-rotated view. In other words, theinitial view of a 3D image can be identical to a 2D image of the objectsurface. The 3D image can be rotated by a user or by the displayautomatically so that the 3-dimensional aspect becomes apparent due tothe variation of the depth component. The rotated views can be generatedfrom the 2D image and the depth component using an existing 3D imagemapping technique.

Stereoscopic display can be performed by providing two images to theright and left eyes of a viewer; and the two images represent differentperspectives of the same object. In one example, one of the two eyes ofa viewer can be provided with a non-rotated view; while the other eye isprovided with a slightly rotated view, e.g. a rotated view that deviatesfrom the non-rotated view similar to the perspectives that both eyes ofthe viewer naturally received from the object surface. Alternatively,each eye can be provided with differently rotated views.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that a new anduseful imaging device capable of capturing depth information or surfaceprofiles of objects have been described herein. In view of the manypossible embodiments, however, it should be recognized that theembodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures aremeant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting thescope of what is claimed. Those of skill in the art will recognize thatthe illustrated embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail.Therefore, the devices and methods as described herein contemplate allsuch embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claimsand equivalents thereof.

1. A method, comprising: capturing an image of an object using an imagesensor that comprises an array of sensor pixels, wherein the capturedimage is comprised of a color component of a two-dimensional image ofthe object and a depth component, wherein the depth component specifiesfor at least one image pixel of the two-dimensional image a depthinformation that is the distance between a point on the object and asensor pixel that generates said at least one image pixel.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the depth component is a J×K two-dimensional arrayof data; and J×K is the dimension of the sensor pixel array of the imagesensor.
 3. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining, for an imagepixel with an uncertain depth value, a depth value based upon at least aknow depth value of a nearby image pixel.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising: producing a three-dimensional image of the objectusing the captured image, comprising: displaying the two-dimensionalimage; and displaying a rotated image that is generated from thetwo-dimensional image and the depth component.
 5. The method of claim 1,comprising: generating a left eye image and a right eye image fordisplaying a stereoscopic image of the object, comprising: assigning oneof the left and right eye images as the two-dimensional image;generating a rotated image that is deviated from the two-dimensionalimage according to the depth component; and assigning the other one ofthe left and right eye images as the rotated image.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, comprising: projecting a sequence of structured light patternsto the object; capturing the light patterns reflected from the object;and extracting the depth component from the captured light patterns. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the consecutive light patterns isdistanced apart by an interval that is 200 microseconds or less.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the structured light patterns are encoded bya set of binary codes.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step ofcapturing the light patterns comprises: capturing the light patterns byusing an array of charge-coupled devices, further comprising: causing,by a charge-coupled device, an amount of electric charge proportional tothe intensity of the light incident thereto; and transferring theaccumulated electric charge in each charge-couple pixel to an amplifierfor N light patterns during time T, wherein N is the total number oflight patterns in the sequence; and T is the time distance between thefirst and the last light patterns in the sequence.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the step of capturing the light patterns comprises:capturing the light patterns by using an array of charge-coupleddevices, further comprising: latching a number, P, of sub-arrays of thecharge-coupled devices at each measurement time, wherein P is equal to1/N of the total number of pixels in the charge-coupled device in thearray, and wherein N is the total number of light patterns in thesequence.
 11. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of capturing thelight patterns comprises: capturing the light patterns by using an arrayof charge-coupled devices, further comprising: causing, by acharge-coupled device, an amount of electric charge proportional to theintensity of the light incident thereto; and transferring theaccumulated electric charge in each charge-couple pixel to a comparatorwhose output is connected to a memory.
 12. The method of claim 6,wherein the step of projecting a sequence of structured light patternscomprises: projecting the sequence of structured light patterns using anarray of micromirrors, wherein each micromirror comprises a deflectablemirror plate and an electrode on a substrate that is comprised of anon-semiconductor material.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein thesubstrate is comprised of a glass material, a plastic material, or anamorphous material.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein a semiconductormemory is absent from the micromirror.
 15. A method for capturing animage of an object, the method comprising: projecting a sequence ofstructured light patterns to the object using an array of deflectablemicromirrors, wherein the consecutive light patterns is distanced apartby an interval that is 1 millisecond or less; capturing the lightpatterns reflected from the object; and extracting the depth informationof the object from the captured light patterns.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the consecutive light patterns is distanced apart by aninterval that is 200 microseconds or less.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein the structured light patterns are encoded by a set of binarycodes.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of capturing thelight patterns comprises: capturing the light patterns by using an arrayof charge-coupled devices, further comprising: causing, by acharge-coupled device, an amount of electric charge proportional to theintensity of the light incident thereto; and transferring theaccumulated electric charge in each charge-couple pixel to an amplifierfor N light patterns during time T, wherein N is the total number oflight patterns in the sequence; and T is the time distance between thefirst and the last light patterns in the sequence.
 19. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the step of capturing the light patterns comprises:capturing the light patterns by using an array of charge-coupleddevices, further comprising: latching a number, P, of sub-arrays of thecharge-coupled devices at each measurement time, wherein P is equal to1/N of the total number of pixels in the charge-coupled device in thearray, and wherein N is the total number of light patterns in thesequence.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of capturing thelight patterns comprises: capturing the light patterns by using an arrayof charge-coupled devices, further comprising: causing, by acharge-coupled device, an amount of electric charge proportional to theintensity of the light incident thereto; and transferring theaccumulated electric charge in each charge-couple pixel to a comparatorwhose output is connected to a memory.
 21. A device comprising: anenclosure that comprises: a flashing unit capable of projecting a lightpattern onto an object using an array of pixels; an image sensorcomprising an array of image detection devices capable of capturing animage of the object and a depth information of the object; and a shutterhaving a connection to the flashing unit and the image sensor forsynchronizing the flashing unit and the image sensor; and wherein saidenclosure has a maximum dimension of 20 cm or less.
 22. A device,comprising: an array of micromirrors, each micromirror comprising: asubstrate; an electrode formed on the substrate; a mirror plate attachedto a deformable hinge; and a mirror post holding the mirror plate andthe deformable hinge above the substrate; and wherein a memory is absentfrom the micromirror.
 23. The device of claim 22, wherein themicromirror array comprises a set of sub-arrays of micromirrors; andwherein the micromirrors in each sub-array are connected to a commonactuator for actuating the micromirrors; and each micromirror sub-arraycomprises a column or a row of micromirrors having their electrodesconnected to a common electrode contact through which a voltage can beapplied to the connected electrodes.
 24. The device of claim 22, whereinthe substrate is comprised of a non-semiconductor material.
 25. Thedevice of claim 22, wherein the substrate is comprised of a glassmaterial, a plastic material, or an amorphous material.